About a week ago I wrote an article on digital automation which was well received - for that, a big Thank You! 

The general feeling was nice idea but, "show me da Monay, Jerry?" 

There was also a second question relating to the reasoning behind automation - that is easy enough to answer. Take a newspaper publisher. A big one.  New York Times will do. They don't print one paper and leave it on a bench in Battery Park, correct? 

They have many "channels of distribution;" boosters (like TV news anchors), online teasers, late editions, overseas versions, tablet copy, web versions, even pull out sections for busy commuters, etc. I know I'm laying it on a bit thick - but your content is exactly the same. "If a tree falls in the forest..?"

Distributing content to other channels is your distributor network. Automation is all those little vans, paper boys and cargo planes that ferry the NYT worldwide.

This is the MailChimp report from my BeBee themed mailer. 

For those not familiar with email marketing, I will add a few side notes. If you know your stuff already, you can just buzz through to the meat.

A/B Testing - By sending the same template to two subscriber lists at the same time, we can tweak a little - in this case the headline addition ("- at last") on list 1.

Recipients - slightly less than 2000 subscribers (Maximum for free MailChimp account). Sent in two lots of slightly less than 1000 each at pretty much the same time. *Opening rates can fluctuate wildly, depending on send times. 

History: Recipients on this list have received three previous emails from me.  A tacit relationship has been built already. Process: Early unsubscribers have already been removed from the list. Rationale: The context has been set as "introductory digital media/marketing" Purpose: This mailing group is to "set seeds" for future contact, grow rapport and develop communication.

In the second list the US market retained its strong interest level (possibly indicating recipient interest in options other than Linkedin?) - with Kenya coming in second. 

The cadence of opening rates are very similar, showing why the "timeframe/window of opportunity" in email marketing is important.

Lets Quickly go through some of the inferences from these results. Firstly the list itself is not object specific - meaning the audience is composed of general contacts, Linkedin, social subscribers and personal contacts, rather than "own brand" newsletter subscribers.

Subject Line/The hook - "AD360 Brings You - Benefits of BeBee.com (Linkedin got some competition - at last)."

"BeBee" and "Linkedin" + "competition." I think this worked well - namechecking social networks and adding context/conflict, simple.

Opening rates significantly higher( + 6%) than my previous average of 16%, indicating that the headline was "catchy." My view is that Linkedin has touchpoint brand value, the association of competition and BeBee draws attention to the "drama."

Message Body - Below (after the report) colourful - remember many email vendors don't do default graphics - so this format/template is very much up for discussion.

Call to Action -  "See more on BeBee Producer" Straighforward request to find out more info - not a "hard sell."

I am not going to drawfurther conclusions. have a look, see for yourself.  If something bugs you or interests you specifically, drop a note in the comments.